Rodriguez Leads Off Active Rule 5

The Pirates held the No. 1 overall selection, and general manager Neal Huntington reached into his past employer’s farm system for the top selection. Pittsburgh took infielder Josh Rodriguez from the Indians farm system with the top pick.

Rodriguez, who starred at Rice in college, turns 26 next week and has plenty of upper-minors experience. In 2010, he helped Columbus win the Triple-A National Championship, batting .293/.372/.486 in 317 at-bats for the Clippers after starting the year at Double-A Akron. He’s been at Akron or higher since 2008 and is a career .266/.356/.426 hitter in 1,667 minor league at-bats.

Rodriguez has the arm strength to play shortstop, which helps him fit the utility infielder profile in the short term, and may have enough thump to be an everyday second baseman eventually. That, plus the history the Pirates have with the player, helped push him to the top of Pittsburgh’s board.

“We start with the pool of players,” Huntington said of having the No. 1 overall pick. “We look at upside, and then the likelihood the players have of reaching that upside. Then we start looking at where they fit with our ballclub.

“There were some pitchers we talked about at length, some hard throwers, but we had some questions about their secondary stuff. When we compared Josh and his fit for our club with some of the free-agent options out there, we thought he had a chance to make the club and contribute as a middle-utility kind of guy.”

Rodriguez was the first of 10 straight picks that kicked off the major league phase, in which 19 players were selected. He was one of only three position players; the others were also infielders, Brad Emaus of the Mets (from the Blue Jays) and Mike Martinez of the Phillies (from the Nationals).

Emaus is playing in the Dominican Republic for the Toros and hitting .267/.353/.476 with four home runs. He played his first game at second base, his preferred position, on Wednesday after playing every other winter game at third. He said he was surprised and disappointed when the Blue Jays left him off the 40-man roster in November but excited to get picked by the Mets.

“My agent (ACES’ Mike Zimmerman) told me this week that there was a 50-50 chance I’d be taken in the Rule 5, and right now I’m just very ecstatic, excited to be given another chance by the Mets,” Emaus said via phone from the Dominican. Asked to give Mets fans a scouting report, Emaus said, “I’m just a blue-collar guy, a solid guy who has to know the game, has to have some (baseball IQ) because I don’t have great tools. I’m not flashy but I bring my best every day and go out trying to find an edge.”

Another Rodriguez, Aneury Rodriguez of the Rays (no relation), was the odds-on favorite to be picked as a pitcher with upper-levels experience, pitchability and upside. The Astros selected him with the eighth selection and also took former Rice righthander Lance Pendleton from the Yankees in the second round of the major league phase. Both pitchers fit into the big league club’s mix at the fifth starter spot, where top prospect Jordan Lyles and 36-year-old journeyman Nelson Figueroa are also contenders.

• The Yankees remained active in recent Rule 5s, losing two players (Pendleton and George Kontos, to the Padres) and drafting two in lefthander Robert Fish (Angels) and righthander Dan Turpen (Red Sox). Fish continues the Yankees’ offseason focus on lefthanders (aside from Cliff Lee). Fish, who runs his fastball up to 95 mph, fits in a bullpen role competing with offseason minor league free agent acquisitions such as Neal Cotts, a former White Sox big leaguer, and former Rule 5 selection Andy Sisco.

• Power-armed righthander Elvin Ramirez of the Mets was the hot name the last week or so prior to the draft and went fifth overall to the Nationals. Ramirez has run his fastball into the upper 90s this winter while dominating the Dominican Winter League. Adrian Rosario went a pick ahead of him, to the Orioles, and was one of the more under-the-radar players picked. One scout said the Brewers farmhand threw harder in the past but now sits at 88-91 mph and has a solid slider.

“We took a player from Milwaukee,” Orioles executive Andy MacPhail joked, “and they took one from us (righthander Pat Egan). Maybe we can work something out.”

Major League Phase

FIRST ROUND

Selecting Team

Player

Previous
Team

Pirates

SS
Josh Rodriguez

Indians

Offensive-minded utility type. Bench fodder, not a potential regular.

Mariners

RHP
Jose Flores

Indians

Projectable Low-A reliever with plus fastball, good control.

Diamondbacks

LHP
Joe Paterson

Giants

Crafty lefty specialists gets by
with curveball and guts.

Orioles

RHP
Adrian Rosario

Brewers

Plus fastball and sinking change, but scatters zone in Low-A ball.

Royals

RHP
Nathan Adcock

Pirates

If you dream a little, he could have three average to solid pitches and be a starter.

Nationals

RHP
Elvin Ramirez

Mets

Improved his fastball and control in the Dominican this winter, hitting 98-99 mph on radar guns

Cubs

RHP Mason Tobin

Angels

Sold to Rangers. Has live arm but has pitched just three innings in two years because of injuries.

Astros

RHP
Aneury Rodriguez

Rays

Three average pitches, pushes average fastball to 94 at times, possible starter, good winter.